iser flaum
Author | fullerton, calif./usa |
Website
After a fulfilling career contributing to the high-tech industry as an engineer and raising my family, I determined that I needed to memorialize my parents’ tribulations as Nazi slave captives. Having already passed from the world, after I retired and enjoyed much free time, I took the role as scribe to narrate their true-life storie.... more
After a fulfilling career contributing to the high-tech industry as an engineer and raising my family, I determined that I needed to memorialize my parents’ tribulations as Nazi slave captives. Having already passed from the world, after I retired and enjoyed much free time, I took the role as scribe to narrate their true-life stories. These had been lingering in my soul from childhood and they called to me to fulfill this sacred duty.
My father used to narrate episodes of his saga throughout my youth, starting as a small child. From these I learned of his traumatic history as well as the loss of his entire large family, none of whom I would ever meet. This includes my eight aunts and uncles, and four grandparents. He also left me some documents, voice recordings, and a public witness video. From this information I was able to delineate his chronicle. My mother also presented her experience, included in the book, but of much lessor content. She had difficulty discussing this topic.
From my early years, I sensed that my family had an unusual background, quite distinct from most of our neighbors. Firstly, in our house, foreign languages were primarily spoken. Further, there was a strange and total absence of immediate relatives, in contrast to others around us. Also, my parents’ entire circle of friends had almost these exact same characteristics strongly distinguishing this group. This contributed to my understanding that these people had a similar history of shared trauma as they clung together, forming a tight network of support. My parents always gravitated to such gatherings, even when we moved from Connecticut to California. They always sought out their compatriots with such background. Thus, I grew up perpetually embedded in this community of “greeneh” (greenhorns as they called themselves in their new country).
With great solemnity and a sense of duty, I undertook the writing of this book as a matter of tribute and memorialization. I sought to honor my parents, their heroic endurance, and perseverance. I also commemorate those family members who were martyred, as well as the huge number of other victims of this historical epoch who left no one to remember their names.